by Marc Martin, last updated 14 June 2005

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the 1970 British
science fiction television series UFO.
I have attempted to answer questions which are introductory in nature
or come up frequently in fandom. If you have any comments or
corrections that could help improve future versions of this FAQ,
please contact me at marc@ufoseries.com.

Permission is granted to freely copy and distribute this FAQ, on the conditions
that it not be altered or used for profit.

Questions & Answers

1. What is "UFO"?

UFO is a 1970 British science fiction television series about a secret military
organization which defends the Earth from Alien invaders. The series was created
by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson, who previously created the "Supermarionation"
puppet TV series in the 1960's (THUNDERBIRDS, FIREBALL XL-5, etc.), and would later
create SPACE: 1999. UFO was filmed in 1969-70, and began broadcasting in September
1970 in England and September 1972 in America. The series ran for only a single season,
for a total of 26 one-hour color episodes.

2. What is the basic storyline?

The series is set in what would have been ten years in the future -- the early
1980's. It had been discovered that Aliens are coming to Earth and kidnapping people
for unknown reasons. A secret military defense organization named SHADO ("Supreme
Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation") is set up and is just becoming operational
in the first episode.

SHADO's main headquarters is secretly hidden beneath a London film studio, and
many SHADO personnel double as film studio employees as a cover. SHADO also has a
base on the moon ("Moonbase") and a fleet of submarines ("Skydiver").
Incoming UFO's are detected by an Earth orbiting satellite ("Space Intruder
Detector", or "SID"). An initial interception attempt is made in space
with three Interceptors launched from Moonbase. A second attempt is made in the Earth's
atmosphere with a fighter plane ("Sky One") launched from Skydiver. Landed
UFO's are tracked down with ground Mobiles.

SHADO is run by the extremely dedicated Commander Ed Straker. His seconds in command
are Col. Alec Freeman, Col. Paul Foster, and Col. Virginia Lake. Moonbase is often
commanded by Lt. Gay Ellis or Lt. Nina Barry.

The episodes are typically about SHADO's attempts to thwart the Alien's plans,
and the Alien's various ploys to disable SHADO or kill its commander. Recurring themes
include maintaining SHADO security, keeping SHADO properly funded, and the effect
that the secrecy has on the personal lives of SHADO's operatives.

3. What is the appeal of UFO?

UFO
appeals to different people for different reasons. Some fans love the
hardware designs for SHADO's futuristic ground, air, and space
vehicles. Others love the character of Commander Ed Straker, whose
personal life became an important subject in several episodes. There
are many other good reasons to like the series, including great
special effects, creative stories, appealing lead actors and guest
stars, catchy theme music, mysterious aliens, fun fashions, high
production values, and sexy female operatives everywhere!

4. Is UFO available on video/DVD?

In the past few decades, various episodes of UFO have been released on home
video in various countries. However, in 2002-3 UFO was completely remastered and
released on DVD in England, America, France, Italy,
and Japan! Plus during 2005, there are plans to release UFO on DVD in Germany and Australia!

In England, Carlton Visual Entertainment released UFO on DVD in
two deluxe sets each containing 4 discs, plus these same discs were
released as 8 individual volumes. The remastering job is stunning, and
these episodes look better than ever. These DVDs also include a
nice variety of extras, including animated menus, including a few
short deleted scenes, episode commentary from Gerry Anderson
(IDENTIFIED) and Ed Bishop (SUB-SMASH), lots of never-before-seen
publicity and behind-the-scenes photos, merchandise galleries, and
somewhat speculative information about SHADO and it's main characters.
Although this is being marketed as a Region 2 DVD, the discs are in
fact region-free, so they will play without problem in non-Region 2
countries with the PAL video standard (e.g., Australia).

In America, A&E Home Video released UFO on DVD in two large sets, and then later repackaged these discs in a "UFO Megaset".
These sets use the same superb transfers seen on the British set, and
also include the same Gerry Anderson & Ed Bishop commentary
tracks. In addition, they include commentary from Mike Billington and
director Alan Perry on KILL STRAKER and Sylvia Anderson and Wanda
Ventham on TIMELASH. They also include the few short deleted scenes
from the British set, plus additional goodies -- raw audio from the SID
recording sessions, original set audio from KILL STRAKER, and a
demonstration of day-for-night filming on TIMELASH. However, it
does not include many of the extras found on the British set, like the
behind-the-scenes photos, script excerpts, merchandise galleries, and
character bios. It does include some photo galleries, but unfortunately
these are all just frame captures from the episodes!

In France, TF1 Video released all 26 episodes of UFO in one large box set
containing 7 discs. This set can be viewed in English with French subtitles
or dubbed in French. Unfortunately, the video & audio quality is rather poor
-- only 4 of the episodes are the remastered versions, and the MPEG encoding has
far too many artifacts. This set does not contain any commentary tracks, but it does
feature some unique extras, including short interviews with Ed Bishop & Sylvia
Anderson (both from 1992), a trailer for INVASION: UFO, and merchandise galleries.

In Italy, Cult Media released UFO in two large sets. The
episodes are all the high-quality remastered versions, with the audio
switchable between English mono, Italian mono, and Italian 5.1
surround. Extras include animated menus, behind-the-scenes
photos, commentary from Gerry Anderson and Ed Bishop (subtitled in Italian), merchandise
galleries, and trailers for the Italian UFO compilation movies.
The first set came in two different versions, a standard and a deluxe
version. The deluxe version included an extra disc with the
compilation movie INVASION:UFO, a 34 minute interview with Ed Bishop,
and 5 minutes of footage from Italian UFO conventions.

In
Japan, Tohokushinsha released UFO in two large sets. The episodes
are all the high-quality remastered versions, with either Japanese or
English audio. This set is unique in that the English audio is a
processed "pseudo-surround" 5.1 (the original mono is not an
option). Each set comes with a small color booklet. Unique
extras include a 30 minute documentary called "SHADO Secret File" (in
Japanese), a 60 minute Fanderson "UFO Documentary" (English with
Japanese subtitles), and the graveyard sequence from THE SQUARE TRIANGLE
without the closing credits overlayed. They also include some of
the deleted audio/video from the other sets, but do not have any
commentary tracks or photo galleries.Prior
to the DVD releases, episodes of UFO had been released on home video
in England, America, and Japan. In England, many of the episodes were
released in the 1980's and 1990's on VHS tape, and all 26 episodes
were finally released in 2000. In America, only 8 episodes were ever
released onto VHS tape in the 1980's. In Japan, several episodes
were released on VHS tape in the 1980's, and all 26 episodes were
released on laserdisc in the early 1990's.

5. What are some other ways I could see UFO?

In
the 1990's, there were isolated instances of UFO being broadcast around
the world -- it has shown up on BBC2 in the UK, the Sci-Fi Channel in
America, and also on channels in Australia, Japan, Germany,
Italy, and New Zealand. However, there haven't been reports of
UFO being broadcast in the past few years, so the DVDs appear to be the only option for
seeing the series these days. Besides, with the DVDs the episodes are uncut, and the picture quality can't be beat.

6. Why do the women on Moonbase wear purple wigs?

The purple wigs were simply part of the women's Moonbase uniforms.
Wigs were very popular in the late 1960's, and Sylvia Anderson envisioned that wigs
might someday become part of a uniform. Sylvia designed the Moonbase outfits and
the wigs, and has been quoted as saying that the purple wigs came about simply because
she liked them!

There have been attempts to give the wigs some sort of scientific explanation,
like they protect the wearers from electromagnetic fields caused from the Moonbase
command sphere equipment. However, besides being rather farfetched, these explanations
always fail to explain why Col. Foster never needed any protection while he was in
command of Moonbase!

7. What about Straker -- is that a wig or Ed Bishop's real hair?

Ed Bishop has dark hair, so his hair was initially bleached for the first few episodes.
However, to prevent damaging his hair with repeated bleachings, he was given a blonde
wig, which he wore for the remainder of the series. Ed Bishop owned the Straker wig
after the series ended, and sometimes brought it with him to science fiction conventions.
To get a better idea of what Ed's real hair looked like at the time UFO was made,
watch the 1968 movie DOPPELGANGER, aka JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN.

And Ed Bishop was not the only male wearing a wig on UFO, as George
Sewell (Col. Alec Freeman) and Michael Billington (Col. Paul Foster) also wore wigs.
Several episodes were made before Michael started wearing his wig, so you can spot
his real hair in the early episodes where he has rather large sideburns and a receding
hairline.

8. Is there more than one Skydiver?

Yes. Skydiver 3 and Sky 4 are featured in the THE PSYCHOBOMBS episode. However,
this episode and a statement in CONFETTI CHECK A-OK about a "fleet of submarines"
are practically the only pieces of evidence in the entire series that there is more
than one. Skydiver One is often referred to as simply "Skydiver", implying
that there is only one. Of course, one might suppose that there was only one
Skydiver in SHADO's early days and more were built later, the fourth being operational
by the time frame of THE PSYCHOMBOMBS. However, this was never mentioned in the series.

9. Why do the Interceptors have only one missile?

The one-missile Interceptors have been criticized by many fans as not being very
practical, but these criticisms overlook what may have been a primary motivation
for their design -- it allows an opportunity for the UFOs to make it past Moonbase,
which in turn allows for much more interesting stories!

Incidentally, while the series was in pre-production, the original intent as described
in pre-production memos was that each Interceptor missile would break apart into
ten smaller pieces and then create a blanket detonation which the UFO would hopefully
pass through. However, the special effects in the series do not really support this
description.

10. What did the Aliens want?

The reason the Aliens kept coming to Earth pretty much remained a mystery. In
IDENTIFIED, Straker theorized that the Aliens might be a dying humanoid race which
had become sterile, and are coming to Earth to extend their own lifespans using human
organs for replacements. In ESP, one of the characters who seems to be speaking for
the Aliens confirms that their planet is dying, and they mean no harm to the people
of Earth.

However, in THE CAT WITH TEN LIVES, some doubt is introduced as to whether the
Aliens are humanoid at all, as the remains of an Alien body appears to be 100% human
in origin. Dr. Jackson theorizes that the Aliens may not be humanoid at all, but
are merely taking over the minds of humans and using the bodies as "vehicles".
This theory backed up in this episode as the Aliens appear to have
taken over the mind of a cat.

However, the Alien's behavior in some episodes remains confusing. Like when they
planted bombs in THE LONG SLEEP, or tried to wipe out all life on Earth in DESTRUCTION.
This is simply not consistent with their previous statements that they wish no harm
to the people of Earth, nor is it consistent with a race that requires a large supply
of healthy human bodies.

11. What can you tell me about those futuristic automobiles?

Straker's and Foster's futuristic automobiles were originally designed by Derek
Meddings for the movie DOPPELGANGER (aka JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN), and
were redressed slightly for UFO. Life-sized clay models were built by German auto
manufacturer designers,and then racing car driver Alan
Mann built the cars for 8500 pounds each. The cars were constructed using beaten
aluminum on top of a Mark 4 Ford Zodiac chassis (predecessor to the Granada). The
gull-wing doors didn't actually work, so someone always stood off-camera to raise
or lower the doors. The actors reported that the cars were very unpleasant to drive
in, as there was not enough headroom and the engine exhaust fumes spilled into the
interior. Also, the cars could not move very fast, so many scenes were sped up to simulate a fast-moving vehicle.

In the years since UFO was made, the cars have changed hands a number of times.
Straker's car was owned by Radio One DJ Dave Lee Travis in the 1970's. In 1980, the
car was bought by someone in Birmingham who had it repainted with scenes from UFO,
and then let it sit in a warehouse for years. He eventually gave it away to one of
his employees, who in turn has let the car rust away in his back yard. To make matters
worse, he eventually built a garage next to his house which prevents the car from
being removed without a crane, and has no particular interest in ever restoring or
selling the car to someone else!

After UFO, Foster's car was originally sold to a film company which removed the
scoops and slats and painted it red for a futuristic porn movie. It was later purchased
in 1982 by film buff who made the car driveable and actually used it as his personal
transportation for 18 months! It was then damaged in the front and ignored
until 1993, when it was purchased by UFO fan Tony Read.

12. Why does everyone drive on the wrong side of the road?

In England, people drive on the left side of the road and steering wheels are
on the right side of the vehicle. However, in UFO's version of 1980s England, both
of these have been reversed. Although I am not aware of an official explanation for
this, it seems likely that UFO's creators were simply going along with what was being
predicted at the time, which was that England would switch their driving system sometime
in the near future. It's interesting to note that other Anderson series like CAPTAIN
SCARLET also show reversed driving in futuristic England, and that UFO's several
flashbacks to 1970 shows normal English driving and cars.

13. Why do several of the regular characters suddenly disappear?

UFO was filmed in two shooting blocks at two studios, due to an unexpected closure
of the first studio after 17 episodes had been filmed. There was a 6 month period
spent waiting for soundstages to become available at the second studio, and since
many of the actors were not contractually obligated to stay with the series, they
went and found jobs elsewhere. The episodes in the second shooting block are missing
many of the regular characters from the first block, including Col. Alec Freeman,
Lt. Gay Ellis, Lt. Keith Ford, Capt. Lew Waterman, and Lt. Joan Harrington. Many
of these characters were replaced with new ones -- Col. Virginia Lake was added to
replace Col. Freeman, and Lt. Nina Barry was promoted to replace Lt. Ellis.

To determine which episodes were filmed in which shooting block, see the production
order listed in FAQ#16 -- the first 17 episodes were filmed at
MGM Borehamwood studios from May to December 1969, while the remaining 9 were filmed
at Pinewood studios from May to September 1970.

There were a few other significant character/cast changes made while the series
was in production. Capt. Peter Carlin was originally intended to be a main character,
but was dropped early in the production because the actor's agent feared he would
become typecast as a sci-fi television series actor. Col. Paul Foster was added after
a few episodes had been made to give the series a more youthful and appealing male
lead. Dr. Jackson was added because the producers liked the actor, and the actor
playing Dr. Shroeder had become ill. And Interceptor pilot Mark Bradley dissappeared
because the actor was frustrated by the week-to-week contracts for the minor characters.

14. Are there any bloopers in the series that I should look for?

There are a few. Probably the most noticeable is in THE LONG SLEEP, when Straker
refers to a "Miss Ross". The original script gave Catherine a last name
of "Ross", but this was changed to "Fraser" prior to filming
-- unfortunately, one occurance of "Ross" managed to slip by everyone involved
in the production!

In REFLECTIONS IN THE WATER, there is a major battle at the end, and 4 Interceptor
missiles are shown to be fired, which is somewhat surprising, since there are only
3 Interceptors with 1 missile each!

In CONFETTI CHECK A-OK, there is a shot of Straker's futuristic car pulling up
to General Henderson's office. The problem is that this is a flashback scene, and
was long before Straker had a futuristic car!

In THE SQUARE TRIANGLE, an Interceptor attack on an incoming UFO is called off, yet when they show the Interceptors about to return to Moonbase, their missiles have already been fired!

In COMPUTER AFFAIR, Astronaut Mark Bradley and Gay Ellis have dinner together
and are drinking a 1984 vintage wine. While not technically a blooper, many fans
regard this as a mistake, as this episode seems to be early in SHADO's history, which
would put it in the 1980-1981 time frame.

Also not technically a blooper, Lt. Ford's voice has obviously been dubbed over
with another actor's voice in the episode THE SQUARE TRIANGLE. Actor Keith Alexander
was often out of the country during UFO's production, and most likely another actor
was brought in to redub his voice due to a problem with the original sound recording
made on the set.

15. How can I get a UFO episode guide?

UFO episode guides have appeared throughout the years in several books and magazines, and now also on the various Internet websites. The "UFO Series Home Page" has two episode
guides available online -- a single page, spoiler-free version at:

Or if you're looking for a book,
I recommend "The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO" by Chris
Bentley, which is still available and has a very detailed UFO episode guide.

16. What is the correct episode order?

Unfortunately,
there does not seem to be a widely agreed-upon UFO viewing order, so
I've listed several below. Unfortunately, some of these orders
don't make any sense if you analyze how the characters and situations
progress throughout the series -- especially in cases where there are
flashbacks to episodes which haven't been shown yet!

The Gerry Anderson fan club
FANDERSON researched the original production order, which with a slight
modification has been the basis for some of the DVD
releases. In my opinion a little more modification is needed to
introduce Paul Foster's character better, so I've added my own personal
recommendation.

Also note that the production
order does not match the order in which the episodes were filmed when
it comes to the episodes TIMELASH and MINDBENDER. That is,
TIMELASH had an earlier production code, but was filmed after MINDBENDER.

UFO EPISODE ORDERS

M = Marc Martin's recommended viewing orderF = Fanderson suggested order used on British DVDs
P = production order (reverse episodes 24 and 25 for filming order)
S = order in Starlog TV Episode Guides Volume II & Century 21#1
I = ITC order used by Polygram UK VHS releases and American Sci-Fi Channel
J = Japanese order used for all merchandise & broadcasts
U = original UK broadcast order for ATV Midlands

17. Why did UFO only last a single season? Was it poorly received?

Most of Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's series only lasted 39 episodes or less,
as financier Lew Grade was more interested in making a brand new series than continuing
old ones. So when UFO finished filming 26 episodes in the fall of 1970, it wasn't
even expected that there would be a second season. And sure enough, Lew asked Gerry
to start filming the detective/crime-fighting series "The Protectors".

UFO began broadcasting in England as the final episodes were being finished, and
the local stations didn't quite know how to schedule it, as they were expecting another
Gerry Anderson children's program, but instead got something that had a lot of adult
content. As a result, stations showed it at various times, and moved
some episodes to late night or refused to show them at all. As one might expect,
ratings were not very good.

In America, ITC syndicated UFO over 136 TV stations during the 1972-73 season,
two years after filming had been completed. This was not part of a network showing,
although many articles at the time associate it with CBS, because it was
shown on CBS stations in the largest markets of New York and Los Angeles. UFO did
very well in the ratings on these two stations for the first several months. It did
so well in fact that CBS was thinking about ordering a second season. As a result,
Gerry Anderson and his team began pre-production on a sequel series which would take
place in the year 1999. The battle with the Aliens would have escalated, and SHADO
HQ would have been moved to the moon in a much larger moonbase. Models, sets, and
costumes were prepared, but then the ratings began to fall and the series was cancelled.
However, Gerry pitched the idea to use this pre-production work for a brand new series, which turned out to be SPACE: 1999.

In the past several years,
multiple parties have expressed interest in some sort of UFO remake,
either as a TV series or film. In 1996 there was an attempt by an
Australian film production company, which created a proposal and
gathered fan letters, but nobody was willing to finance it. In
2001, a German banker was interested in producing a film, but for
unknown reasons this project vanished. In early 2003, there
was word that one of the producers of the film "Solaris" showed some
interest, but nothing has been heard about this for a while. And
finally, in late 2003 Carlton issued a press release stating that
Trilogy Entertainment (the makers of the new OUTER LIMITS and TWILIGHT
ZONE series) was working on creating a new UFO TV series for US
networks. Stay tuned...

18. Is UFO related to SPACE: 1999 or any other Anderson production?

There is certainly nothing onscreen to indicate a direct link between UFO and
any other Anderson production. However, there has been a lot of publicity & fan
conjecture about a shared "universe" of events in the various Anderson
productions. Even in an old issue of STARLOG magazine, there was a Gerry Anderson column with statements saying that Moonbase Alpha was an evolution
of the SHADO Moonbase, the Aliens had stopped coming to the Earth around 1990,
and that the Hawk fighter was a replacement for the Interceptor. This however was not an official statement, but instead one dreamed up by a STARLOG columnist.

However, there are certainly a lot of similarities between UFO and many of the
other Anderson productions due to the same group of people working on them. Notable
among these are Gerry Anderson & Reg Hill (producers & series concept), Sylvia
Anderson (fashions, casting & series concept), Tony Barwick (script editor &
writer), Derek Meddings (vehicle design & special effects), Barry Gray (music
& sound effects), Bob Bell (art director & set design), and David Lane and
Alan Perry (directors). Many of UFO's regular and guest cast also worked in other
Anderson productions, either as actors or voices for puppet characters.

There are also some similarities between the story elements in UFO and other Anderson
productions. Organizations protecting against danger is a common theme, and was the
basis of the earlier puppet series STINGRAY, THUNDERBIRDS, and CAPTAIN SCARLET. Other
familiar plot elements in UFO are the secret organization (THUNDERBIRDS) and an ongoing
battle with Aliens (CAPTAIN SCARLET).

UFO also has a lot in common with the Anderson's 1968 live action movie DOPPELGANGER,
aka JOURNEY TO THE FAR SIDE OF THE SUN. This film features several UFO cast members
and many elements that would be later reused in UFO, like the futuristic automobiles
and jeeps, the astronaut suits, and the models of a launch facility and rocket.

19. What is "INVASION: UFO"?

INVASION: UFO is a 90 minute movie created by compiling scenes from several episodes
of UFO. It is not
the pilot movie for the series, and in fact was produced ten years
after UFO was made! The episodes used for the compilation are
IDENTIFIED (32 mins), COMPUTER AFFAIR (25 mins), REFLECTIONS IN THE
WATER (27 mins), CONFETTI CHECK A-OK (5 min), THE MAN WHO CAME BACK (1
min), and ESP (less than 1 min). A new title sequence was created, and
additional music was added or overlayed onto the existing music. There
are some fans who find this compilation movie enjoyable, while others
think it is vastly inferior to the original episodes. Oddly enough, in
the 1980s and 1990s INVASION: UFO was broadcast more frequently than
the original series in many areas, and in the UK five of the original
UFO episodes used to make the movie were never released on Polygram's
VHS videos because the movie had exclusive video rights!

Although INVASION: UFO was the only English-language UFO compilation movie, there
were 5 dubbed Italian UFO compilation movies which were released in Italian theaters
in the early 1970's. The Italian movies were released on VHS in the past, and are being released on DVD in 2005.

20. Whatever happened to the cast members?

To people who don't follow or have access to British film, TV, theatre, or radio
productions, it would appear that practically everyone who appeared in UFO never
worked in show business again! This is certainly not the case however, as many of
the major UFO players, like Ed Bishop, Mike Billington, George Sewell, Wanda Ventham,
and Gabrielle Drake have continued working in British productions.

When UFO was first released, it was expected that Ed Bishop would become a major
star, but unfortunately this did not happen. However, Ed has found steady work in
England with voice-overs, stage plays, and radio dramatizations. He has also been
quite active in UFO fandom and has appeared at many science fiction conventions in
England and elsewhere.

Mike Billington followed UFO with a leading role in the BBC historical drama THE
ONEDIN LINE. Since
then, he has done some television work and concentrated on teaching method acting
in America and England.

George Sewell and Gabrielle Drake have continued working in British television
and theatre, while Wanda Ventham has appeared in many British television series.

A few of the regular cast members have passed away since the filming of UFO. Ed Bishop (Ed Straker) and Mike Billington (Paul Foster) passed away within a week of each other in June 2005. Grant Taylor (General Henderson) was ill during the filming of UFO and
passed away shortly after the series had finished production. Vladek Sheybal
(Dr. Jackson), Norma Ronald (Miss Ealand), and Maxwell Shaw (Dr. Shroeder) all passed away in the 1990s. Harry Baird (Mark Bradley) passed away in 2005.

21. What kinds of UFO merchandise has been released?

Excluding
the previously mentioned videos, there has been a fair amount of UFO
merchandise released all around the world, most notably in Japan,
England, and Italy. Naturally, most of this merchandise came out in
the early 1970's, and is difficult if not impossible to find today.
However, new products have been released in recent years, some of
which can be easily found today.

Perhaps the most popular items have been the various model kits and die-cast models
of the various SHADO vehicles, bases, etc. These were mostly produced by IMAI, BANDAI,
and DINKY, and include things like the Interceptor, the UFO, Skydiver, Sky One, the
Mobile, the Lunar Module, the Lunar Carrier, Moonbase, Straker's car -- even Lt.
Ellis! In
2003, the Japanese company Konami released a very popular set of
pre-made UFO "trading figures". And in 2004, the British company Product Enterprises released die-cast models of the Interceptor, UFO, and Skydiver, and are expected to release a 3 versions of a SHADO Mobile in 2005!

As for books, there were originally two English-language novelizations, a British
"UFO Annual", several comics, and some Italian photo-novelizations. In
the early 1980's there were two Japanese visual guidebooks released, and yet another
one in 1993, and then one in 2003 and another in 2004! There have been a few English-language UFO-related
books released in recent years, mostrecently "The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson's UFO", and further back the "UFO & Space: 1999 Book"
(series guides), "21st Century Visions" (Derek Medding's book on Anderson
special effects), and "The Gerry Anderson Memorabelia Guide" (a guide to
all Anderson merchandise). The FANDERSON club (see FAQ#23) has also released a couple books containing original UFO scripts, and also
released a booklet full of UFO pre-production drawings.

As for magazines, most of the English language ones which cover UFO have been from England.
Magazines like SIG, CENTURY 21, TV ZONE, TIME SCREEN, SFX, and SCI-FI AND FANTASY FX have had articles of
interest to UFO fans, and many of these can occasionally be found on eBay. As for current magazines, the best one out there for UFO fans is FANDERSON's FAB
magazine.

A number of miscellaneous items were also released in the early 1970's, including
trading cards, comics, puzzles, viewmaster reels, lunchboxes, coloring books -- even
a UFO board game was released in Italy! Most of these items occasionally show up on eBay. FANDERSON currently sells a double CD soundtrack, script books, some photos, a set of
UFO collector cards, a SHADO patch, badge, and sticker, plus an excellent one-hour video documentary DVD on the "Making of UFO".

Many UFO photos & slides have been available over the years, but the selection
and number of merchants selling them today is pretty small. Again, eBay is your best bet for these.

And finally, ITC publicity materials, scripts, original models, and other rare
items are owned by a few hard-core fans, and are generally not for sale!

22. Where can I get UFO videos, merchandise, and collectibles?

This is certainly not a comprehensive list, but it does include a few common places
and methods of getting UFO merchandise. Most of these merchants are mail-order businesses,
have websites, and accept payment in local currency or with a major credit card.

VIDEO MERCHANTS

In the UK, Carlton's UFO DVDs are available from Amazon.uk (set 1, set 2).

UFO Trading Cards can be purchased from Cards, Inc (note that the autographed Alien card appears to be autographed by someone who never appeared in UFO, and that the Ed Straker costume card reportedly does not feature fabric worn by Ed Bishop)

RARE COLLECTIBLES

Rare UFO collectibles are hard to come by, but good places to look are the online auction site eBay, the classifieds sections of Fanderson's
FAB magazine, the SHADO@yahoogroups.com
discussion group, and British science fiction conventions.

23. What fan activity has there been?

There have been several UFO fan clubs in existence around the world since UFO's
first broadcast. In America, SHADO-USCC (United States Central Control) published newsletters and fanzines from 1973 to 1979. Also
in America, SHADO-USECC (United States East Coast Control) also
published newsletters and fanzines from 1979 to 2001.

In England, the official Gerry Anderson fan club is still active
today, and has been since the early 1980s. They have a very
professionally done club magazine and exclusive merchandise. Since
FANDERSON is devoted to all of Gerry Anderson's work, UFO is not
necessarily given much coverage, however the coverage it does get is
always of the highest quality. Some of FANDERSON's exclusive UFO
merchandise includes
a double soundtrack CD, one hour "Making of UFO" documentary on DVD, and a set of UFO trading cards. They
have also thrown several conventions of interest to UFO fans -- UFORIA
1 and UFORIA 2 in the 1980s, plus the more recent Fanderson conventions
always have had at least one UFO guest. For more information, visit their website at http://www.fanderson.org.uk/

In Italy, the "Italian Section
of SHADO" has invited several UFO cast members to Italy for conventions
and events. You can visit their website at http://www.isoshado.org. (an english version is also available)

In Australia, a UFO fanzine series call FLIGHTPATH is available from Entropy Express. Here is a list of contents of the currently available issues.

24. Where are there UFO discussions & files on the Internet?

Probably the best place to discuss UFO on the Internet is the SHADO@yahoogroups.com
discussion group, which has ~900 subscribers from around the world. This list is
accessible to anyone with Internet e-mail access, and may be subscribed via the group's
web site or by sending a blank message
to the following e-mail address: